Pies on the outside looking in after Crows push them out of the eight

AFL correspondent in Western Australia

Collingwood players leave the ground after their 60-point loss to West Coast on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images

Nathan Buckley has challenged his players to "represent" the Collingwood colours for the remaining three home and away games to avoid missing the finals for the first time since 2005.

The Magpies’ 60-point loss to West Coast at Patersons Stadium on Sunday has them ninth on the ladder, with games against Brisbane, Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn to come.

They have lost six of their past eight games, including three to sides currently outside the top eight. It was only in round 12 that the Pies were on the rise, having won seven of eight games and sitting fourth on the ladder.

Buckley, clearly disappointed by his side’s showing against the Eagles on Sunday considering there was so much on the line, said he would now look to the reserves for players in form and who wanted to have a go. ‘‘For there to be a competition there needs to be two combatants,’’ he said. ‘‘Clearly we’re in that final-eight mix, like West Coast, like a couple of other sides. Knowing, with the knowledge of that as a carrot, same with West Coast as it is for us, the effort is especially disappointing. We got smashed at [the] contested ball.’’

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Buckley said Luke Ball and Brodie Grundy would be strongly considered for a recall, and Dane Swan will also be in the mix after being considered for the trip west.

But turning around a performance like they delivered on Sunday is going to be no mean feat.

Buckley conceded the loss was much worse than the ones against the Gold Coast and Essendon, when his side was showing fatigue in the lead-up to the bye.

‘‘This one tops any of that,’’ he said. ‘‘You go back to what you value, you break it down to the base elements and that means having a go, be prepared to represent the guernsey, represent themselves and represent their teammates the best they possibly can.

‘‘We need to improve our midfield depth and improve the periphery around that and the young players need to develop and the leaders need to stand up, and neither really happened today.

‘‘We weren’t prepared to roll the sleeves up – when I say we — every player. A quick straw poll of our playing group then against our trademark – attitude and effort, who is going to give themselves a tick – no hands ... zero hands, first time all year, so to a man all of them felt they let the team down and you get a result like that.’’

What disappointed Buckley the most was that some of West Coast’s ball-movers got plenty of the ball. Matt Priddis had 42 touches, Andrew Gaff 34, Chris Masten 32, Luke Shuey 32 and Mark Hutchings 31.

The inability to make the most of their running ability against such a tall opponent also had Buckley lost for words. ‘‘We thought it was an opportunity [the Eagles playing such a tall forward line] and then they ended up kicking 14 of 19 goals, their tall fellas. We didn’t bring enough intent to the contest, we didn’t bring enough work rate. There is another three weeks to go and if we are there we deserve it and if we’re not, we don’t.’’